From Manchester to Rio

Mike Hartfield was a sophomore at Manchester High back in the 2005-06 school year when he found himself in a PE class taught by Thayer Redman -- who also served as the MHS track coach.

Thayer could tell Mike was a good athlete and encouraged him to join the spring track team. Mike did, and did well -- becoming a high school All-American in the long jump, and eventually an Olympian.

The two kept in touch, and Thayer traveled to Brazil in August to watch Mike compete in the Summer Olympics -- and you can follow along as Thayer took lots of pictures and wrote about the experience in a blog.